Two advisers close to Donald Trump are engaged in a bitterly personal power struggle over some of the former president's Cabinet nominees, according to a new report.
Elon Musk quickly worked his way into the president-elect's inner circle after pouring about $200 million into his re-election campaign, but there are already signs of tension between the tech mogul and other Trump advisers — specifically longtime loyalist Boris Epshteyn, reported Axios.
"Their rocky relationship came to a head last Wednesday during a heated discussion at a dinner table in front of other guests at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, three people familiar with the episode told Axios," the website reported. "At one point during what the sources described as a 'massive blowup' and a 'huge explosion,' Musk accused Epshteyn of leaking details of Trump's transition — including personnel picks — to the media. Epshteyn responded by telling Musk that he didn't know what he was talking about."
Epshteyn pushed for former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as attorney general, and Musk questioned whether the longtime adviser had too much influence over his top Justice department picks and the White House counsel pick of William McGinley, the sources said, while Epshteyn bristled at Musk's criticism.
Musk has been pushing for Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick as treasury secretary instead of Wall Street favorite Scott Bessent, a hedge fun manager who visited Mar-a-Lago last week.
"Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas [Lutnick] will actually enact change," Musk posted on his X platform. "Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt."
The tech billionaire is well-liked by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson and Trump's two eldest sons, but his near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago has irritated some longstanding members of Trump's inner circle.
House Republicans have revived and are looking to push through legislation this week that would hand President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration sweeping power to investigate and shut down nonprofit organizations, including news outlets and humanitarian groups.
The bill, H.R. 9495, failed to pass the House last week despite bipartisan support because the Republican leadership attempted to pass the measure using a fast-track procedure that requires a two-thirds majority vote. More than 50 Democrats, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other prominent members, backed the legislation in last week's vote, along with 204 Republicans.
This time, the GOP is attempting to advance the bill through regular order, meaning it can pass with a simple majority. The Republican-controlled House Rules Committee is scheduled to hold a markup hearing for H.R. 9495 on Monday.
After learning of the hearing, advocacy organizations that mobilized against the bill redoubled their warnings about its dire implications for free expression and the right to dissent—particularly in the hands of a would-be authoritarian who has vowed to prosecute his political enemies.
"The bill we defeated days ago is back," the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights wrote on social media over the weekend. "Representatives are trying to ram through H.R. 9495, a repressive bill that could shut down nonprofits & student groups supporting Palestinian rights."
The legislation, if passed, would give the Treasury Department the authority to unilaterally strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status by designating them supporters of terrorism. As of this writing, Trumphas not announced his pick to lead the Treasury Department.
While the bill provides a brief period for an accused nonprofit to defend itself, the ACLUsaid the provision "is a mere illusion of due process," noting that the federal government would be able to "deny organizations its reasons and evidence against them, leaving the nonprofit unable to rebut allegations."
Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America, warned in a statement after Republicans revival of the bill that H.R. 9495 "would grant the Trump administration, and any future administration, the ability to silence and censor its critics, curb free speech, target political opponents, and punish crucial organizations that speak truth to power and help people in the United States and around the world."
"This bill would increase the powers of the president at the expense of all of our freedoms, and could impact not only organizations like Oxfam, but other nonprofits, news outlets, or even universities who dare to dissent," said Maxman. "It could put our ability to respond to some of the worst humanitarian crises at risk and prevent us from delivering lifesaving aid to some of the world's most marginalized people."
"This bill follows the same playbook Oxfam has seen other governments around the world use to crush dissent. Now we are seeing it here at home," Maxman added. "We urge the House of Representatives to reject this dangerous bill and to protect our freedom of speech and our right to dissent."
It's not clear whether the U.S. Senate, narrowly controlled by Democrats, would bring H.R. 9495 to the floor for a vote if it passes the House this week, or whether President Joe Biden would sign it into law. But Republicans will gain full control of Congress and the White House starting in January, giving them the ability to push the legislation through at a later date.
"Their rush to reconsider this bill is solely to offer Trump more and more power, while Trump's nominees for key national security posts this week indicate how he will be using it," Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a leading opponent of the measure, toldThe Intercept on Friday.
President-elect Donald Trump will face an uphill battle should he attempt to push ultra-ideological judges to the bench as he did in his first term, according to a new report.
A Washington Post analysis revealed Monday that, despite a Senate majority, the math is working against Trump.
Senate Democrats who currently enjoy the majority are rushing to leave as few vacancies for Trump to fill as possible, the Washington Post reported.
Outgoing Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is reportedly "rushing to confirm more than two dozen of President Joe Biden’s remaining judicial nominees before Republicans take control of the chamber on Jan. 3, limiting the number of vacancies for Trump to fill."
"If the Senate confirms all of Biden’s remaining nominees — a big if — Trump will have 36 judicial vacancies to fill when he takes office," the Post reported.
That's a stark contrast from the 108 vacancies Trump had at the start of his first term, the Post reported.
Lawyer Robert Luther III warned a recent conference of the GOP judge-grooming club the Federalist Society not to expect 2017 numbers in 2025.
“I’ve studied the data and, realistically, that 108 number that we had in 2017 is probably pretty close to the number of nominations President Trump will be able to make over the entirety of his term if the Republicans keep the Senate,” he reportedly said.
Trump meanwhile has taken to social media to demand the Senate confirm "no judges" until he takes office.
Trump might also try to replace Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas with like-minded counterparts half their age, securing the current court's 6-3 composition for years to come.
But recent reports indicate Alito, at least, has no current plans to step aside for political considerations.
President-elect Donald Trump and his attorney general nominee would be foolish to believe House Speaker Mike Johnson can keep the Gaetz report from being leaked to the Senate, at least, CNN political analyst Scott Jennings said Monday.
"Your life and everything you've done and all the actions you've undertaken are fair game," said Jennings. "That's what the process is for."
Jennings also argued Trump he'll likely lose his push to have Gaetz hired as attorney general.
The CNN commentator said it was unlikely the Senate would confirm Gaetz's nomination to lead the Department of Justice due to the intense opposition he's predicted to face from people Trump will find difficult to bully.
"Some of these senators are simply not tenable or as susceptible to Trump's influence as the others," Jennings said. "Some of them are retiring, some of them, you know, have an image of fighting with Trump publicly that serves them well back in their home states."
"Some of them have had some long-standing problems with him," Jennings said. "So there's a group of senators here obviously, that would be more than the required number to defeat a nomination on the floor."
But he argued, as confirmation hearings approached, Johnson's efforts would likely prove futile.
"It strikes me that it's likely to come out either the report itself or the information contained," he said. "If I were Mr. Gaetz, I don't think I would count on that remaining a secret."
Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary could face a "rocky ride" to confirmation over reports that he paid to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, according to reports.
The Fox News broadcaster and National Guard veteran paid the woman an undisclosed amount last year as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement, and Hegseth's attorney insisted the 2017 encounter was consensual and not sexual assault. But MSNBC's Joe Scarborough predicted some of Trump's nominees would face opposition from Senate Republicans.
"The fact is Donald Trump won the presidency, [and] Donald Trump can put the people in that he thinks will help him out the most," Scarborough said. "Again, Susie Wiles as chief of staff had a lot of people on the Hill going, 'Okay, not perfect that he is going to be the president, but this is somebody that brought order to the campaign structure at least, even if the campaign itself at times was far from orderly.'
"Again, the same thing with Marco Rubio, a lot of people in Washington, D.C., again, had a lot of different policy issues and debates with Marco Rubio but, at the same time, that was his selection and the people said, 'All right, well he is going to be the president and that is his prerogative.'"
However, Scarborough said Hegseth, attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, and intelligence chief nominee Tulsi Gabbard might not be given a pass by GOP senators, although Trump wants Congress to go into recess so he can push through his appointees as acting secretaries to avoid confirmation hearings.
"Let's face it, just three picks right now that I think Senate Republicans are going to have real trouble with and, of course, you know, we have talked about one, but also Tulsi Gabbard and also the selection for [Department of Defense] which, of course, people on the inside and the Trump transition team know that the DOD selection is going to be a rocky ride."
The Georgia State Election Board will hold its first post-election meeting on Monday, where it is set to consider resuming its recent push to change Georgia’s election rules and stir the debate anew about counties review controversial mass voter challenges.
The State Election Board meeting is scheduled to begin Monday morning with a public comment period where people can discuss the board’s wishlist sketched out on a significantly condensed agenda, at least in contrast to marathon-length meetings recently held in a rush to enforce several
new electoral rules by the Nov. 5th election.
On Nov. 5, President-elect Donald Trump won the election decisively in Georgia and six other swing states over Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, an outcome celebrated by Georgia Republicans waging the ongoing legal battle over the recent rulemaking of the State Election Board.
Three members of the board, Janelle King, Janice Johnston and Rick Jeffares, were publicly praised as “pit bulls” for victory at an Atlanta campaign rally by Trump this fall for their efforts to change the game for voters ahead of Georgia’s November election.
On Monday’s Georgia election board agenda are two rule amendment petitions filed by Lucia Frazier of Roswell, which would require each county to make public a list of all eligible voters during and after every election. Frazier wants the state board to mandate that counties post a numbered list of voters no later than five days after every primary, election, or run-off.
The file would include the name of every voter along with their voter ID, precinct, and check-in time and must be available for two years after the election.
“The intent of this petition is to have the State Election Board adopt a rule change to affirm existing Georgia law in that citizens of Georgia have access to all data generated in the process of elections,”
Frazier wrote.
In September, Frazier’s husband, Republican activist Jason Frazier, retracted his lawsuit alleging Fulton County election officials failed to remove ineligible voters from their registration lists.
The State Election Board will continue the debate Monday following a report by Executive Director Mike Coan that assessed how election boards are handling mass voter challenges in Fulton and other metro Atlanta counties.
The Trump-aligned Georgia election board members all voted last month against their two colleagues to ask state lawmakers to update rules that would make it more difficult for county election boards to reject thousands of challenges to voters’ eligibility.
With two new conservative board members appointed this year, the board meetings became the site of a heated debate over several election administration proposals pushed by the Republican majority.
Georgia’s board, which has no direct role in determining election results, writes rules to ensure that elections run smoothly and hears complaints about alleged violations. The state Legislature creates laws that govern elections, a principle upheld as King, Johnston and Jeffares tried to advance their agenda since this summer.
Democrats and voting rights groups fear that a recently cemented majority of right-leaning Republican partisans on the board could push the limits of state law with rules hindering the effective administration of elections and the swift certification of results.
The Georgia Supreme Court has agreed to review the legality of several rules passed this year by Georgia election officials.
Madeline Summerville, an Atlanta-based attorney and political analyst, said she hopes the outcome of this November’s election will lead to fewer petitions to change Georgia’s election rules pushed at the election board’s meetings, which have often been packed with people waving signs, demanding changes like a requirement for hand counts of paper ballots.
The 2024 general election will prove the current election administration protocols are working as intended and disprove widespread fraud claims, she said.
The upcoming Legislative session is likely the place where new election rules will be put in place, Summerville said.
“I think that in the future you are likely to see fewer of these pushes simply because the people who are pushing them got the outcome they wanted,” she said. “But I do think the state Legislature will try to take up whatever the strongest arguments are and drop the rest.”
A national security lawyer with a reputation for defending political whistleblowers has three words of advice for outspoken critics of President-elect Donald Trump.
"Take a vacation," Mark Zaid reportedly says to those who could face arrest.
Politico on Monday published a lengthy interview with the attorney about his new stock of clientele who remain afraid that Trump meant what he said on the campaign trail when he promised retribution.
Zaid now represents dozens of current and former government officials whom he warns to take seriously the threats Trump world has been playing down as campaign bombast.
"I’m taking him and his inner circle at their word," Zaid said. "They have promised retribution and retaliation."
The Trump administration could deploy various tactics to keep perceived "enemies from within" within arms' reach should the president decide to act against them, warned Zaid.
He argued Trump's second administration will be more organized than the first.
"This isn’t going to be Nazi Germany or the Stasi raiding everyone’s homes or anything like that," Zaid said. "I think it’s going to be methodical. I think it’s well thought out. I think it will happen fairly quickly."
Targets could well include journalists who report on leaked defense information and people such as the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency who recently revealed internal panic over Trump's return and frequently criticizes the president-elect.
"Just think about a situation where the new CIA director could be someone like Kash Patel who says, 'Hey, by the way, John Brennan, when you appeared on CNN on Oct. 29, 2023, what you said was classified and you are going to be prosecuted under the Espionage Act,'” Zaid said.
"Is that going to happen? I have no idea. I would hope not, but depending on who is put into power in the Justice Department, in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, at the CIA, as the Director of National Intelligence — the law would allow that."
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough mocked Donald Trump's new buddy and seeming "co-president" Elon Musk for wearing out his welcome less than two weeks after Election Day.
The billionaire tech mogul reportedly spent about $200 million helping to elect the former president, and Musk has reportedly been influencing his choices for Cabinet secretaries and enjoying a high profile in the Trump orbit.
But the "Morning Joe" host wondered how long that dynamic would last.
"You know, people keep talking about Elon Musk as a co-president," Scarborough said. "I don't know that is helping Elon Musk's standing. Also, I was very surprised that he tweeted out, basically weighing in publicly on who he supported for treasury secretary and also the issue of tariffs, which was sort of the centerpiece of Donald Trump's economic campaign and basically agreeing that he thought tariffs were not good for economies worldwide.
"I don't know if that ends well for Elon Musk or anybody that is doing that publicly."
Co-presenter Jonathan Lemire agreed, saying that Trump usually fell out with staffers and advisers who wanted to share the spotlight.
"There is only room for one star in Donald Trump's sky and it has to be Donald Trump," Lemire said. "We know this is a man who would fire advisers if they got on a magazine cover. He does not like sharing the spotlight with anyone, and he has in recent days, he has couched them as jokes, but flashed irritation that Elon Musk is always around.
"He said that a couple times now at Mar-a-Lago, and he won't leave. I've been talking to some people in the Trump circle who say that's real. Trump is certainly flattered that the world's richest man seems to like him so much. We know that Trump is impressed by wealth, he likes to hang out with people even richer than he, and Musk certainly qualifies for that."
"But at a certain point, Musk, one Trump adviser was telling me, Musk didn't win a single vote. Donald Trump did, and Musk is going to have to restrain himself, this person said, if he wants to stay in Trump's orbit," Lemire added. "Otherwise, odds are there will be, if past is prologue, a rapid falling out in the weeks or months ahead."
"What do they say about visitors?" Scarborough said. "Like, after three days, they're like fish, they start to smell."
Donald Trump sees criticism over his most controversial cabinet picks as a threat to the “almost uncheckable” power he intends to wield — and he is not going to back down, an insider in the president-elect’s camp told CNN.
In an analysis Monday, the network wrote that a source warned he was ready to wage an “epic battle” to force through the picks.
“Trump is adamant he’s not going to give in as he seeks people who will fulfill his goals of tearing down the Washington establishment in a second term he pledged to devote to retribution,” the report stated.
“A source told CNN over the weekend that Trump sees (Matt) Gaetz as his most important pick. The president-elect wants the former Florida congressman confirmed “100%,” the source said. “He is not going to back off. He’s all in.”
Of the many cabinet choices announced in recent days, four have caused most consternation: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Rep. Gaetz (R-FL), Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI), who became a Republican in 2022, and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth.
Trump wants Kennedy to head up the Health Department, Gaetz as attorney general, Gabbard as national intelligence chief and Hegseth in the Department of Defense.
“Each of the most provocative selections is facing criticism that they lack the expertise and experience to run the vast, specialized bureaucracies that would be under their control,” wrote CNN analyst Stephen Collinson.
He added, “In a conventional administration, controversies raging around at least four key Cabinet picks would be seen as a disaster.”
All picks need to be confirmed by the Senate, unless Trump successfully pushes through recess appointments — putting them in position while the Senate is not sitting — as he has threatened to do.
“The outcome of the coming showdown will depend on whether Republican senators are willing to abrogate their own power to vet nominees and will cave under the furious political pressure that is certain to be trained on them by the “Make America Great Again” movement,” Collison wrote.
“The issue represents the first political crisis to confront South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who will take over as Republican Senate majority leader next year.”
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet in person with Donald Trump for the first time in years.
The pair had previously been friends with the former star of NBC's "The Apprentice," but their relationship soured after they repeatedly criticized Trump during his first presidency and afterward. They said they visited his private resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in an attempt to bury the hatchet.
"Over the past week, Joe and I have heard from so many people from political leaders to regular citizens deeply dismayed by several of president-elect Trump's Cabinet selections and they are scared," Brzezinski said. "Last Thursday, we expressed our own concerns on this broadcast and even said we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with the president-elect himself.
"On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that. Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years."
Since the last time they met, the former president accused Scarborough of murdering a congressional staffer decades ago, a conspiracy theory he heard from his attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, and the "Morning Joe" host claims that Trump allies had threatened to arrest his producers if he was re-elected.
"We talked about a lot of issues, including abortion, mass deportation, threats of political retribution against political opponents and media outlets," Scarborough said. "We talked about that a good bit. It will come as no surprise to anybody who watches this show, has watched it over the past year or over the past decade, that we didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so."
"What we did agree on was to restart communications," Brzezinski said. "My father [former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski] often spoke with world leaders with whom he and the United States profoundly disagreed. That is a task shared by reporters and commentators alike. We had not spoken to Trump since March of 2020 other than a personal call that Joe made, a call after the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. In this meeting, President Trump was cheerful and upbeat and he seemed interested in finding common ground with Democrats on some of the most divisive issues. And for those asking why we would go speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, why wouldn't we? Five years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country."
"We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trump's actions and words in the coarsening of public debate for nearly 80 million Americans," Brzezinski added. "Election denialism, public trials, Jan. 6 were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote. Joe and I realized it's time to do something different and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him."
A source close to the former president told Scarborough that Trump might approach his second term differently because he was prohibited from running again.
"Somebody close to Donald Trump told me this past weekend, this is a president who is not seeking re-election, so maybe, just maybe now could be time for both parties to get to work," Scarborough said. "I know, given the jarring headlines that we read every day, that may seem like a stretch but think about this. Of the 150 million votes cast, Donald Trump got 50 percent, Kamala Harris got about 49 percent, so I don't know. It seems to make sense for leaders of both parties to seek common ground, if it's possible at all. I will tell you a lot of Democratic leaders we have talked to this past week since the election have told Mika and me, it's time for a new approach. When I say top Democrats, I mean top Democrats. They said we are open — this is before we talked to Donald Trump — they said, listen. We are open to working with the incoming president if the incoming president is open to working with us."
Brzezinski acknowledged that seemed unlikely, give the current political climate, but she argued that both parties should at least try to co-exist peacefully.
"The question is, though, how do we get there?" she said. "Hyperbole and personal attacks will not work. My hair on fire doesn't work, we have all seen that! What also does not work is threatening political opponents with arrest, harassment and even jail. That is a failed path. Recent history has proven that impeachments and trials turn those on trial into political martyrs and only make them more popular with the American people. Just ask Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. We know this will be a consequential presidency, the question is whether it will be constructive. It will take a new approach from all sides, from both parties, and a leader who can bring them together and only time will tell if Donald Trump can be that leader. As for us, we also let him know that we will continue to speak truth to power and push back hard when called for, as we have with all presidents."
Scarborough seemed to anticipate criticism of their visit to Mar-a-Lago and insisted they would still cover him as a potential threat to democracy.
"Don't be mistaken, we are not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump," Scarborough said. "We are here to report on him and to hopefully provide you insights that are going to better equip all of us in understanding these deeply unsettling times, and I am reminded of what Marty Baron, legendary editor told his Washington Post editors back in the first term: 'We are not going to war, we are going to work.' So let's go to work now."
The man leading Donald Trump's transition team is reportedly driving the president-elect up the wall as he conducts a political "knife fight" against a powerful competitor.
Wall Street executive Howard Lutnick's chances of securing a powerful role as Treasury Secretary appear to be dwindling as he continues to irk the president-elect, the New York Times reported late Sunday.
"Lutnick, who has been running Mr. Trump’s transition operation, has gotten on Mr. Trump’s nerves lately," the New York Times reported.
" Trump has privately expressed frustration that Mr. Lutnick has been hanging around him too much and that he has been manipulating the transition process for his own ends."
Lutnick, the chief executive of the firm Cantor Fitzgerald, has been squabbling with former George Soros money manager Scott Bessent as both men vie for the job, according to the Times.
"A person familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the battle between Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Bessent as a knife fight, with Mr. Lutnick as the primary aggressor," the Times reported.
But Trump's annoyance reportedly has him considering unexpected candidates in former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh or Wall Street billionaire Marc Rowan, according to the Times.
One powerful ally remains on Lutnick's team and that's Elon Musk, who posted on X over the weekend that Bessent would not challenge the status quo.
"Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas [Lutnick] will actually enact change," Musk wrote. "Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change one way or another."
Karoline Leavitt, the incoming White House press secretary, declined to answer the Times' questions about a meeting Trump had with Lutnick on Sunday.
“President-elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second administration," she said in a statement. "Those decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made.”
"Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans' Freedoms, and held back our economy," Trump said. "He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America's Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America."
Trump's statement does not mention Carr's connection to Project 2025, the governance plan from which the former and incoming president has tried to distance himself since polls showed it was highly unpopular.
"Carr also wrote the FCC section of Project 2025, the agenda that the conservative Heritage Foundation sketched out for a second Trump term," according to NPR. "Trump disavowed it during the campaign but its themes have dovetailed with his public pronouncements since the election. (A call by House Democrats for Carr to be investigated for engaging in partisan activity over the report did not result in formal action. Carr said he had secured approval from FCC ethics officials to do so in his personal capacity.)"
After McConnell reportedly said, "There will be no recess appointments," social media was overtaken by talk of the upcoming standoff.
Former federal prosecutor Harry Litman said, "Lines are drawn."
"It would be sad as well as disgraceful if the Senate caved on this," he added. "And the stakes go beyond the political, and even the constitutional. It’s an inordinate and unnecessary national security risk."
HuffPost reporter Yashar Ali said, "McConnell will not be Senate Republican Leader soon, but he may be saying this based on conversations with his colleagues."
"The idea that the U.S. Senate will give up its authority on this matter with the flip of a switch is foolish," Ali said. "They’re not going to stop using pro-forma."
Economic advisor Patrick Chovanec said, "McConnell understands this would be the end of the Senate as we know it. Whether he's in any position to stand up against the MAGAs is the real question."
Correspondent Molly Jong-Fast simply said, "Let us pray."
Legal analyst Allison Gill, better known as Mueller, She Wrote, said, "But McConnell won't be the leader. Here's hoping, though."
